Looking to get an old Legends car running

[jillybooty]

I'm a mech E student at the University of South Carolina. A few of us recently found out that we have a Legends car (from the 90s I believe) sitting in storage and we want to get it running again. I'm having a bit of trouble finding info on older legends cars and I don't want to go off of material that only applies to the newer cars so I'm coming here.

So:
1. What should we know about this car before trying to start it for the first time?
2. Apparently the carbs caught fire last time it was started. Any ideas on what could cause this?
3. Where can we find some info about this older car?
4. What are some general specs about the car? All I can tell by looking at it is that it has an air-cooled Yamaha I-4.

Any info or links you guys could provide would be great.

Thanks.

[justfreaky]

Welcome to the LegendsRacer family!
I am sure we have folks here on the site that can get you going in the right direction.

Just because the car has sat for so long; The first order of business is to clean the carbs and fuel system. Drain and clean the fuel cell. Change the oil. Clean and gap, or replace the spark plugs. Make sure the battery has a good charge. Likely that you will need to replace that also. Fresh gas. Hopefully that will at least get it started.

Most of the basics of the car have not changed. There are a lot of updates if you plan to use the car in INEX events. We have a group here on the site from the Univerity Of South Carolina using an older car for autocross events. Are you part of that group, or is this another car?

Steve

[jillybooty]

As far as I know, this car is the only one we have. I didn't know a group around here used it for autocross. I'll have to see if I can contact them as I'm sure they would know more about the car than I would.

I'm going to see the car today. Do you think it would be ok to just put some gas in it and start it up for now? We're just trying to see if it will start at the moment. Once we can tell it starts, we'll worry about gapping, cleaning, etc.

[VMS Motorsports]

If you're going to do that, make sure you prime the oiling system before you try to fire it up to get lubrication throughout

[jillybooty]

If you're going to do that, make sure you prime the oiling system before you try to fire it up to get lubrication throughout

Good call. Thanks.

[justfreaky]

Here is a link to their project thread:
http://www.legendsracer.com/index.php?topic=2850.0
Engineering students as far as I am aware of.

Steve

[jillybooty]

Here is a link to their project thread:
http://www.legendsracer.com/index.php?topic=2850.0
Engineering students as far as I am aware of.

Steve

Wow. Sounds like I might have a good source of info right here on campus. I wonder if we're working on the same car.

[justfreaky]

The last update I got was that they ran last weekend in the rain. Car was/is running. They are running slick tires that are too big for the car. What their budget could afford from what I understand.

If Tyson and Schuyler are the members in your group, I have been chatting with them about the project. If not; Hook up with them and pool some resources and manpower.

Steve

[justfreaky]

Looks like we've got 2 cars at the University Of South Carolina. 
Keep us posted.

Steve

[justfreaky]

Did you get a chance to give the car a good looking over?
What do you have to work with?
Post us up a few pics.   

Steve